After the Tour

We've all now gone our separate ways. 6 people should be home in Canada, 2 vacationing in Thailand, and 3 of us in various parts of England. I'm very much enjoying some peace and relaxation at my sister's house in rural Wiltshire.

I'm sure we'll all need some time to reflect on the tour and fully absorb everything that we saw and learned. There were many emotional moments that will no doubt affect us again as we look at our pictures, read the stories and give presentations to our fellow staff members, volunteers and customers. We'll all take different things with us, but I'm sure the experience will stay with us and enrich our individual roles within the Ten Thousand Villages organization.

I may be able to post more information in the coming weeks - there were some artisan interviews carried out in the last few days of the tour that have not yet been typed up. I'll post those with some images when I receive them. I may also come across some photographic gems as I sort through the hundreds/thousands of pictures.

For now, thanks for reading - it's been fun to do this despite the late nights and early mornings that it sometimes called for. Thanks especially to those who posted comments, or emailed them directly. And my most sincere thanks to my fellow learning tour participants - it was truly a pleasure to share the last 18 days with you. I hope this blog serves as a good reminder of the tour.

Ian Brown

Last Day of the Tour: Stone Carvers / Taj Mahal

The last day of the tour was a long one: about 5 hours on the bus from Delhi to Agra (and back again.) First we visited one of Tara's artisans, a group of stone carvers. We learned a little about how they work and saw the various stages of cutting, carving & polishing many of the products that we sell such as soapstone elephants and boxes with inlaid decoration.

A couple of pictures:

Cutting stone

Carving elephant bookends

Cutting thin wafers of stone for inlaid decoration on boxes

We then went to visit the Taj Mahal. Words can't do it justice, so here's a picture.

Pictures from Tara Projects / Delhi

Here are a few images from our visit to Tara, and sightseeing in Delhi...

Packaging necklaces

Lots of jewellery in Tara's excellent sample room

Rajasthani Musicians & Dancers

Learning Tour Participants, Tara artisans / employees, Musicians

Lotus Temple

The Red Fort

Vasumati Mistri - St Mary's (Ahmedabad)

Vasumati started working with St. Mary’s as an embroiderer in 1973. Vasumati lived with her husband and her mother in law. Vasumati’s husband was working in an iron factory. The family was barely making ends meet so she started working to provide a supplemental income to the family. Vasumati would go to St. Mary’s each week to pick up bundles consisting of stenciled cloth and colored threads. Vasumati would embroider the cloth at home while running the household.

Vasumati’s mother in law passed away and then a few years later, in 1990 Vasumati’s husband passed away as well. At this time Vasumati started working at St. Mary’s Center full time. Vasumati is now the person in charge of preparing the cloth and thread bundles for other women to pick up and take home to embroider. Vasumati has been able to receive a loan toward the purchase of her own home, and has since re-paid the loan. Vasumati has no children of her own but has nieces and nephews that will also benefit from her income.

Vasumati wants to continue working at the center as long as she is able. She is proud of her accomplishments. Having a job and her own income has given her great self esteem and empowerment. Since she is now alone the connection with others at the center mean a lot her. Being at St. Mary’s makes her very happy.

Interview by Shirley

More pictures from St Mary's and Ahmedabad:

Dancers preparing to perform for us

And yet another photogenic kid...

Step Well

Gandhi's room at the Ashram

Tara Projects / Delhi

A change to the schedule saw us spending today in Delhi, with the trip to Agra now happening on Monday.

We spent the day with Tara projects - learning a lot about their artisans, and being very impressed by the political and social development work that they do. We all thoroughly enjoyed music and dance by some Rajasthani performers, then we were treated to pizza, noodles, French fries and diet Coke for lunch!

We then set off on a brief tour of the sights of Delhi, seeing the Baha'i Lotus Temple, a Hare Krishna temple, the Red Fort, Delhi Gate and India Gate.

An early supper was followed by a chance for us to spend some final time together as a group, reflecting on our experiences over the last 16 days. Now there are some frantic struggles going on as we attempt to cram everything into our suitcases ... then we'll all be early to bed.

At 5am (the reason this is so brief - I need to go to bed!) we'll be on the road to Agra to visit some stone carvers who work with Tara Projects, and to visit the Taj Mahal. It will be a long day, but a chance for those who haven't been there before to visit one of the world's most famous buildings. Unfortunately Carell and Shirley won't be going with us as they have an earlier flight (to Bangkok) than the rest of us and didn't want to risk being late back ... newspaper reports this weekend suggest getting to the airport here 6 hours before your flight time as the various security and check-in lines are so bad....

After a long day on the bus we'll have a long night on the plane before heading our various separate ways - some (me included) are staying in England for a while, others head straight back to Canada.

I'll find time to post more updates and pictures when I'm in England in the middle of the week.

Ahmedabad

The sisters from St Mary's took us to a fabulous restaurant in Ahmedabad - we started with watermelon juice and appetizers in a huge lounge with low benches and tables and a spectacular mobile of papier mache figures. We then ate dinner on a rooftop patio with stars shining and bats flitting above our heads. The meal was an authentic Gujurati Thali, complete with instructions. We all ate very very well!

The next day we were taken to The Calico Museum of Textiles to learn more about the rich history of fabric making and decoration in Gujurat state. Set in an ancient mill, the museum could be very informative, but a somewhat speedy compulsory tour, led by a women who seemed knowledgable but who rushed us from room to room and left no time to ask questions, while an army of attendants constantly warned us not to touch the textiles, all of which are encased in heavy plastic. A slightly bizarre experience, but interesting in some ways.

We then paid a brief visit to a Jain temple where the cool marble and shade was a nice relief from the heat, before enjoying a spectacular lunch prepared for us by some of the women at St Mary's.

In the afternoon our sightseeing continued with a bus ride out to an ancient well / bathing complex built for a queen. Sorry to be vague on details, but I don't have time to write much...

We then stopped at Gandhi's ashram which was very meaningful for many of us, and we were disappointed not to have more time to spend in the informative museum.

A late flight brought us back to Delhi for the last couple of days of the tour...

Parveen, Noah's Ark

Parveen is 26 years old and is married with one daughter. He has 2 brothers and one sister.

He is the oldest son and at the age of 11 he quit school in the 5^th grade because he had to start working.He was from a poor family although both his parents worked part time. He has been working for 15 years at first helping his own family and now supporting his wife and daughter.

Noah’s Ark International found him working at his craft displaying ‘Patchwork stitching and Wallhangings' in his little shop in his village of Delhi . It was a new type of craft that they were looking for and thought would sell well. He was very good at it. Parveen is very creative and designs all of his own products.He just see’s a design or pictures a design and then makes it. He has 10 people working for him mostly women who do all the sewing. His wife works for him too.

He doesn’t see himself doing any other job but designing and sewing products out of material. He goes to the local market to buy the raw materials he needs and then designs.Most materials for the patch work are scraps from other projects. He will make things that customers want, that’s not a problem. But no two items will be the same.

He is very thankful for Noah’s Ark International because they help him in anything he needs like micro loans, advice and steady work. He doesn’t envision ever leaving the organization because they help him so much and they have a very good working relationship.

His plans for the future is to be able to send their daughter off to a good school so she can get a good job with a large corporation. Perhaps travel abroad. Of course a BIG dream would be that they move to North America but right now he just wants to work and provide for his family. He loves his work and he wants the stores in Canada just to sell more so he can make more patch work products and wallhangings. He is proud of his designs and wants the world to see them so perhaps they will buy them. He hopes the customers will appreciate the hand made products.

Interview by Anne

Aktari Begum - Ashirwad, Kolkata

Margaret Devadason, former director for MCC India, started the project when she was still working at the MCC office. Once she retired the group decided to meet at her house, one hour out of Kolkata.

Aktari, who is 30 year old, worked with the group since the beginning 13 years ago. Once she got married she could not meet with the group because she had to work at home.

Aktari met her husband, Sahil, at her neighbourhood and she liked him and her mom gave him permission for visiting. After a while they got to know each other and her mother though he was a good option for her. She comes from a poor Muslim family; therefore her family decided who she would marry to. Her father, who worked in construction, died when she was a teenager and she had four sisters and four brothers, one of them died few years ago.

Aktari does not remember how to read or write. She attended to Class 4 (grade 4) but she did not practice the reading and writing so she thinks she forgot it.

Her husband worked for a while but in the last years he just drinks every day. He is drunk most of the time. They live in a tiled house, one bedroom. Their house is 4x3 mts.

They live two hours by bus from Kolkata. Having nothing for feeding her kids, she came back to Margaret’s house for help. Here she received support and now is working again. At this point she is the only provider in her house. She pays 250 rupees (6 dollars) per month for her oldest son, Faisul Rehman, 6 years old, to attend to the school in class 1. The rest of the money is for food. Her sister helps her making more food so she can share with Aktari. But her sister lives ½ hour from her house. Her bothers also have helped her giving clothing for her kids in special occasions, like festivals (Easter, Christmas). When she comes to work on Thursdays her sons stay with the mother in love. This is the only support she receives from her husband family. Her youngest son, Ali Rehman is 3 years old. She had surgery after the last child. She did not want to have more kids. Her health is very poor at this time. Margaret said she has lost many pounds in the last weeks because she does not eat properly. She feed her kids first and there is not much left for her. Her only dream is to educate her kids; she said she does want any thing for her. And she has to accept her situation and continue with this kind of life. The only possibility is that her husband abandons her but in that case nobody of her family will accept her back because that will be a disgrace for them. So no good end here.

Interview by Isabel

St Mary's

An inspiring afternoon visiting St Mary's: a Catholic missionary group that provides employment to 450 Hindu and Muslim women who live in the poorest areas of Ahmedabad. This city has had many difficult times - a devastating earthquake and religious violence in which many slum areas were burned, leading to 6000 people taking shelter in the St Mary's compound. The sisters also provide a low-cost hospital for women to give birth, as well as other medical services.

We saw a number of artisans working on wall hangings, tablecloths and advent calendars, all of which will be arriving in Canada next fall.

We're just cooling off in the hotel for a while before heading out for dinner. A number of us found the heat a bit much this afternoon...

Delhi - Ahmedabad

We had a good afternoon with Noah's Ark yesterday - they brought in 10 producers: men who operate workshops employing anywhere from 8-80 artisans creating many of the shesham wood products, Christmas ornaments, textiles etc that we sell. It was very interesting to meet them and give them chance to show off some of their new products, of which they are rightly very proud.

In the evening some had dinner with Moon Sharma from Tara Projects, while others chose to rest after the early start yesterday, and in preparation for another early one today.

We were out of the hotel at 6am into the pre-dawn. Brightly lit Hindu shrines drew the eye on many street corners. A delayed but uneventful flight brought us to Ahmedabad, where the weather is very hot. From the plane the landscape around the city was parched - bare brown earth and dry riverbeds, punctuated with patches of green where irrigation or pumped water must be available. Just from the brief drive from the airport, the city has a very different feel to Kolkata and Delhi ... much dirtier, much poorer. We're staying in the nicest hotel of the journey, but there are scenes of intense poverty right beside it. It could be a difficult couple of days, but we're soon going to be meeting people from St Mary's who will hopefully provide some hope and show us that the work we do makes a difference.

Some scenes from Kolkata

Victoria Memorial

Jain Temple

We keep coming across more photogenic kids!

Hindu icon being created in historic potters' district

Big Yellow Taxis - Kolkata streets rather less manic than Dhaka!

And now I'll hand the laptop off to those that still need to type up artisan interviews. I'll try to post more in the next couple of days.

Silk Production

We didn't do a formal interview at the silk /printing works as the artisans are paid by the piece and we didn't want to negatively affect their income. Here is a description of what we saw (written by Carell) follwed by a few images to give you a feel of the process.

So you think that silk scarf you have your eye on is expensive? If you could see the process involved in turning raw silk fabric into the beautiful finished product, you might change your mind. In the village of Serampore, there lives a group of skilled craftspeople who turn out silk saris and scarves that are either silk printed or block printed and that will sell to the export or domestic market, depending on colour and pattern.

Eighteen years ago, this group was born and now runs their own project, with CRC providing help with marketing, design, finance and exporting assistance. We were privileged to see the entire process and I was totally enthralled.

They begin with silk fabric, each piece 11 m. long, in the natural golden colour. A coal furnace fired the heat for the following vats. Fourteen or fifteen pieces were degummed by boiling in a large vat for 45 minutes, stirring with long bamboo poles. They were then placed in another vat and boiled with hydrogen peroxide to bleach out the colour so that the resulting fabric was suitable for dyeing. The dyeing vat was the next spot, with AZO-free and PCB-free dyes used. This part of the process took about 40 minutes, depending on the particular fabric and hue required and the fabric was dried. These workers earned an hourly wage for hot, very steamy work.

The fabric was then patterned using silk screen or block printing which were designed by a separate design team. The men who worked in these areas were paid by the hour and were very industrious. The silk screen printing area comprised a series of very long, wax-covered tables. The fabric was laid straight on the was-covered table and pressed flat using plastic scrubbies that you might recognize as pot cleaners. Steam under the table softened the wax sufficiently to make the fabric adhere to it. Then a series of silk screens were placed on the fabric with a worker on either side of the table, colour was poured into one end of the screen and wooden scrapers were pulled and pushed back and forth to push the colour through the pattern on the screen, colouring the fabric. Each colour required the use of a different screen which allowed a part of the pattern to be filled in. The cloth was then lifted and hung to dry. For our benefit the workers that day printed a cotton fabric using five different colours and it was amazing to see the transformation of white cloth into a vibrant multi-hued sari or scarf.

Block printed fabrics were stamped using wooden blocks which had been hand carved by master craftsmen. The small blocks were dipped into dye and stamped by hand on the fabric with the artisan’s keen eye keeping the pattern even. Each colour required a different block. The blocks were used about a thousand times before being replaced.

The patterned silk was then wrapped in cotton, with layer upon layer of silk then cotton, rolled up like a huge jellyroll and strapped to hold it together. It was steamed for 45 minutes to one hour to set the colour, using steam from the original part of the whole process, removed, washed, dried and finished. It was folded and placed in cotton, then this delicate treasure was placed on a half-log and beaten with 10 pound wooden mallets! The beaters had a regular rhythm going, stopping only to open the package and turn the silk several times in the hour it took to complete each package. Ian and Carolyn both tried this part of the process and had the workers in stitches at their pathetic efforts but we gave them credit because they were the only ones of our group brave enough to try. The beating made the silk softer and added luster.

Silk saris for the domestic market were folded in a specific way and we were horrified to see them being wet down then ironed with huge hand irons heated on a fire. It was nice to see men doing all of the ironing.

Degumming - boiling woven raw silk to make it softer

Silk drying in the breeze

Screen printing - these guys were so fast it was hard to get a good picture!

Pounding silk with very heavy wooden hammers
(weak Villages store manager attempt at this not shown!)

Papu Phillips & Sanjoy Das - Ashaniktan (Kolkata)

Ashaniktan is a program of Sasha Handicrafts in the suburbs of Kolkata. Asha means hope, Niktan means home; the name is so meaningful for this group of approximately 40 mentally handicapped people, some of whom do live at the centre after being rejected by their parents. The group aims to give dignity through the form of jobs for mentally handicapped people. They also have a children’s program.

Papu, aged 29, makes candles. He lives with his family and has never been to school. Before working with Ashaniktan, he was very insular and didn’t like to leave his home because people would throw rocks at him because of his handicap. When we visited he did appear a little reserved, but when asked about his work he was clearly very happy and confident in his abilities.

Papu is very happy with his job – he agrees that it makes him feel confident, and that it shows people that he is able to live a productive life. He is very proud to be able to give some of his money to his family.

In the mid-1990s, Papu won an award from the Indian National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, for being the best candle maker. This was clearly a very significant moment in his life.

He would like to thank Ten Thousand Villages for allowing him to make candles.

Sanjoy Das, Aged 30, is an embroider of textiles. He is renowned as a great tabla player and earns money playing music at local weddings and other occasions.

Sanjoy used to be very sad and angry all the time – he found life very hard when he had no work. That has all changed: he loves the challenge of learning new things at his job and he really enjoys his life. He gives some of his wages to his mother, and saves some in the bank.

He, too, would like to thank our customers for helping this group of artisans as “it is good for them to be happy!”

Both Sanjoy and Papu hope to work for Ashaniktan for a very long time.

Interview by Ian

Candle welcome at Ashaniktan

Mina Khatun, MKS (Kolkata)

Mina Khatun has been working with the leather workers at MKS in Kolkata for just a few months, but for that short time has brought new meaning to her young life.

At just 18, Mina is the sole provider for her family. Her father died a year ago. Her mother used to sell embroidery but stopped when she discovered that she was being cheated by a middleman who was not paying fairly. About that time Mina’s neighbour, who is a group leader at MKS, suggested that she try to find work with that fair trade organization.

Now, five days a week, Mina takes a train from her home village about one hour and ten minutes away and then walks from the central train station to the MKS workshop where she spends her day training in the craft of leatherwork. At the end of the day she takes the train back to her village home where her mother and three younger brothers are waiting for her.

Mina’s income from MKS not only provides food for the family but it also allows her two school-age brothers to attend classes. This role of financial provider has also put Mina in the role of head of the household, a role which this beautiful, shy girl with a heartwarming smile takes very seriously.

Interview by Sonia

Rina Goshwami - CORR Jute Works (Bangladesh)

Rina, aged 35, has worked for CORR Jute Works for 12 years. She attended school to class 7. Her mother-in-law trained her to work in the co-operative so that she could join the group when she retired. She has now been the treasurer of the group for the past two years and enjoys the responsibility.

Her husband is a tailor. She was really proud to tell me that her husband helps out and cooks when she is busy with her work at the group. The ability to bring in income to the family has changed her status. With the additional income she has been able to buy a cow which also has to take care of. Before joining the group they were very poor.

They have two daughters. The oldest has completed school and is trying to get into university. Her youngest daughter is at level 6. As she did not finish school she knows the value of education and wants them to continue with there studies. Her eldest daughter helps in production when she is busy.

Her request to us was to continue to place orders and sell there goods. The additional income helps them fight poverty in the community and allows them to educate the children as well as have better homes and regular meals,

The village was very neat and tidy with a nice center square where the women were gathered. They have also made enough money to build a structure for them to work in as well as meet. They had they account books with them and were very proud to show them to us. They had established a savings fund for the group as well.

CORR Jute Works has supported the village by planting tress that they used for fruit and shade. This gave the village a very good feel.

Rina was very shy and I felt that she was very intimidated by the process. She was just so proud to say that the husband now helped out and that was the first thing that she told me. When I asked her to sign her name so that we could print this material she actually printed her name in English.

Interview by Carolyn

Minu Begum, Biborton (Bangladesh)

Biborton paper produces hand made paper using jute, water hyacinths and hemp. They have a number of buyers, all are fair trade buyers, and last year sold over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth of product. Biborton was formed in 1993 with 3 producers, now 15 years later they employ 79 full time workers and 40 part-time, all are women. Biborton is located near Agailjhara, a six hour drive from Dhaka. It is an impressive operation with what looked to be pleasant working conditions. The women are paid by the piece, some are employed making paper while others put together paper products ie journals. There is a minimum amount of product that must be produced daily, however, I was told that the minimum requirement is reasonable. The employees work an eight hour day with one hour off for lunch and last year, in addition to their pay, received a bonus of $400.00.

The existence of Biborton has brought direct growth to the village in the form of a grocery store and two small restaurants.

Minu Begum (picture not yet available) was one of the three original producers at Biborton and lives within walking distance of the organization. Her demeanor is one of quiet confidence. She told me that when she started at Biborton they had only a small space with a dirt floor and that she had to learn everything from scratch. Minu said it took her a long time before she felt she had mastered the skills needed. She now works as a product maker and is one of the top earners at Biborton. Minu didn’t elaborate on her life before starting at Biborton but told me that she had been very poor and often worried about having enough to eat.

Minu is married and has two teenaged daughters. Her husband works as a mechanic fixing the engines on small boats. Both her daughters have completed high school, level 10. Her youngest daughter, who is 17, was married last year. Her older daughter, who is 19, plans to attend university and says that she’ll never marry. Minu believes that she will change her mind about marrying. Minu believes that both her daughters are quite creative and will probably end up working as artisans, possibly at Biborton. The family all live together in a house that they inherited from Minu’s in laws. They have a small vegetable garden.

I asked Minu if she likes her work at Biborton, she replied that although she didn’t always like the work she feels a strong commitment to Biborton. She wants very much to help other women settle into Biborton and enjoys training new employees.

Interview by Petrea.

Some images from Biborton:

Welcoming committee at Biborton

Making paper from silk

Paper drying in the sun

Delhi

Most of us were up around 4am today, so I'm sure we were all snoozing on the flight to Delhi. We're checked into very pleasant rooms in our hotel which seems to be in a very suburban area and not really near anything at all. We'll be having lunch soon then meeting with Noah's Ark for the afternoon. There's easy internet access here so I'll try to get caught up with some pictures and other information tonight if I have time (though need to get to bed relatively early as we have to head back to the airport first thing tomorrow for the flight to Ahmedabad.)

Ashirwad

A slow drive through congested Kolkata suburbs brought us to a peaceful village which is home to Margaret Devadason who runs a small group called Ashirwad. They make a small number of Christmas ornaments for Villages. There are 12 women who work in their homes and gather once a week for product finishing, quality control and packaging. They obviously have a good time when they're together as they were laughing and having a great time in the back room of Margaret's very pleasant house. While we were there they were working on blue/white star garlands for Villages US as well as some interesting boxes decorated with broken glass bangles which are ubiquitous here.

We had another good lunch including puris (which we hadn't had yet) and assorted curries. Our driver found a faster route back to the hotel and now we're planning a last few hours of shopping / resting / attempting to cram everything into seriously overloaded suitcases, in preparation for a very early morning tomorrow. We have to leave the hotel around 4:45am for a 7am flight to Delhi, where we'll be meeting with people from Noah's Ark in the afternoon.

CRC

An excellent day today - some still suffering but all well enough to participate. We split into 2 groups, with some of us going to a leather producer and some going to a silk producer. Both groups reported having an excellent time. It was particularly enjoyable to take a drive to a small village without fear of death! We were in modern minivans with seatbelts (the first we've seen!) and AC; the journey took us across the Ganges onto a large highway, then onto progressively smaller country roads, finally winding our way through a small village.

I went to the silk producer and it was fascinating to see the various stages of production. They purchase woven raw silk from producers in the northern part of the state so they can assure us that it is fair trade. The silk is boiled in very hot water for some time before being cleaned and dyed. We saw in detail the screen printing process, with many different designs and colours being applied in sequence. We also saw block printing which is a lot more labour-intensive. Finished items are wrapped in a huge bundle then steamed for a considerable time to set the colours. Finally, smaller bundles are pounded with wooden hammers for an hour to restore the lustre of the silk. Carolyn and I tried this and can report that it is very hard work - we could barely lift the hammers!

On returning to Kolkata we met all the staff at the CRC offices and viewed a short film about their operations. We (or at least those of us able to eat) enjoyed possibly the best lunch so far, at the lovely home of our hosts Walia and Irani, then there was some energetic shopping in CRC's fabric room!

We're back at the hotel with crowds of men gathered outside the lobby window (and many other windows along the way) - India are playing Australia in an important cricket match and there is great excitement as the match nears the final overs.

Tonight some of us may try to take in a Bollywood movie, others will continue to try to rest up in preparation for the busy days ahead of us once we get to Delhi.

Sasha / MKS

An interesting day, but unfortunately many of the group are suffering from various forms of intestinal upset ... we've returned to the hotel early to rest and hopefully recover.

We briefly visited Sasha Handicrafts' office and sample room where we saw some wonderful new products. We also saw their textile operations where they make some lovely clothing for Italian fair trade outlets. We then headed out into the suburbs of Kolkata to visit two artisan groups.

The first was a group of approximately 40 mentally handicapped people, some of whom live there after being rejected by their parents. They make candles for Villages as well as batik and embroidery. We were warmly welcomed, each receiving a lit candle, and learned a lot about how these artisans feel a real sense of dignity and pride from being able to earn a living. We also saw their children's program where several mentally handicapped children are able to be cared for and receive an education. They also had a very simple but peaceful temple where all religions are respected and represented equally. The artisans gather there for prayer and meditation every day before starting work. A triangle of flowers on the floor, a rotating selection of holy books, and a burning flame created an atmosphere of peace that must be inspirational for those working there.

The second group produces the hanging chains of turtles, fish etc, that many of our stores sell. This was a short visit, but it was interesting to see the various items being stuffed with new cotton which is bought locally. They had prepared a huge lunch for us, but most were unable to eat much, unfortunately. They assured us that the artisans would be able to enjoy the food that we didn't eat.

After that we went to MKS, who oversee about 28 producer groups made up of 1800 artisans. We purchase a wide range of items from them, including miniature soapstone animals, clothes brushes, instruments, leather purses etc. Most of their production takes place in rural areas, but there was a leatherwork shop nearby where we saw assorted coin purses and wallets being assembled for Villages Canada.

Hopefully I'll be able to give more details on all these artisans in a future post...

Great Day in Kolkata

We had a good time with Sasha Handicrafts today - just visited their lovely store where we all purchased a lot more stuff to try to cram into our suitcases! We also learned a lot about how they operate and look forward to seeing their offices and travelling to the edge of the city to meet some producers tomorrow.

 

After an excellent lunch we were taken on a very informative city tour on which we saw the Victoria Memorial and the Ganges River, explored an area where potters create Hindu figures which are plunged into the Ganges on special occasions, and a Jain Temple which was quite marvellous.

 

Sorry for the lack of pictures and detailed updates, but I can't do much on these hotel computers. I'll try to find a place where I can do more detailed work...

--
Ten Thousand Villages
371 Richmond Road & 1174 Bank Street, Ottawa - http://www.alternativetrade.com
~~ Shop fair trade - Your purchase makes a difference ~~

In Kolkata

A short and pleasant flight on Indian Airlines bought us to Kolkata this morning. We arrived at the Y to find the conditions somewhat unpleasant, so eventually moved to a real hotel - The Samilton - which is considerably nicer though less convenient for shops & services.

The best news is that the traffic here is MUCH calmer than Dhaka! That made us all happy...

Tomorrow we have a leisurely start to the day with a visit to Sasha Handicrafts, then we may get a city tour in the afternoon.